Finke to sell Hollywood news website

Nikki Finke, the blogger who has shaken up news reporting in Hollywood, is to sell her Deadline Hollywood Daily site to Jay Penske's Mail Media Corporation, a digital network backed by Quadrangle, the investment firm.

Ms Finke's ability to break scoops and report news that studios would often prefer remained a secret has helped her build a large audience since launching the site three years ago.

Her success has largely been at the expense of Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, the film industry's trade publications, which have struggled with the transition to digital publishing.

Under the deal, worth about $15m, Ms Finke will retain editorial control of her work and hire new staff on the east coast.

Ms Finke fielded several offers for the news site but told the Financial Times that MMC would help her "take it to the next level".

"Jay is going to put it on every device imaginable," she said, adding the deal would also include content syndication and a revamped advertising strategy.

MMC was founded by Mr Penske, whose father Roger Penske controls an auto empire including the Penske racing team and Penske truck and leasing company.

Penske Automotive GroupGeneral MotorsMr Penske Jr, meanwhile, has assembled a heavyweight board to run MMC which includes Steve Wozniak, who co-founded Apple with Steve Jobs. MMC has completed a $35m funding round, which was led by Quadrangle.

Mr Penske said Ms Finke was "unequivocally recognised" by the entertainment and business community as "a unique voice and leading authority on news coverage of major media, especially Hollywood".

"With this acquisition and partnership now complete, her Deadline HollyoodDaily.com can continue to extend its reach and influence and finally have the web platform it deserves," he said.

Talent agents and studio bosses often hear of what is happening in their own companies by reading it on Ms Finke's site.

Only a few days ago she revealed management changes at Paramount, including the studio's decision to part company with a senior executive, before the company had announced it to its own staff.

Ms Finke's Deadline Hollywood Daily is at the vanguard of a generation of news sites eager to fill the gap left by Variety and The Hollywood Reporter.

The Wrap, a site backed by Howard Schultz, the chief executive of Starbucks, was launched this year with the aim of taking on Ms Finke and the industry's trade publications.

The internet has opened the door to other publishers: Big Hollywood, a blog run by Andrew Breitbart, a co-creator of the Huffington Post, has built a large audience of conservatives.

Mr Breitbart aims to redress what he says is Hollywood's liberal bias with his blog.